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Russia

Stark Putin Critic Sentenced To Five Years In Prison

KOMMERSANT (Russia), BBC, CNN

Worldcrunch

KIROV - Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to five years in jail for theft and embezzlement on Thursday.

The Kirov City Court found the anti-corruption campaigner guilty of defrauding about $500,000 worth of lumber from a state-run company, reports Russia's Kommersant.

The tough sentence did not come as a surprise for the 37-year-old activist, who described the trial as "a farce".

Navalny is one of Vladimir Putin"s most outspoken critics. Three months ago, he depicted the Russian President as a foe of democracy, reports CNN.

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Alexei Navalny - Photo: Alexey Yushenkov

A few minutes before he was handcuffed during the trial and led away, he urged his supporters to continue his struggle, tweeting : "Don't sit around doing nothing", reports the BBC.

Alexei Navalny registered as a candidate in Moscow mayoral race, but if his conviction stands, the opposition blogger will not be able to run for public office.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Ukrainians In Occupied Territories Are Being Forced To Get Russian Passports

Reports have emerged of children, retirees, and workers being forced by the Russian military and occupying administration to obtain Russian Federation passports, or face prison, beating or loss of public benefits.

Image of a hand holding a red Russian passport.

Russian passport

Iryna Gamaliy

It's referred to as: "forced passportization." Reports are accumulating of police and local authorities in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine requiring that locals obtain Russian passports. Now new evidence has emerged that Ukrainians are indeed being coerced into changing their citizenship, or risk retribution from occupying authorities.

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Ever since late September, when President Vladimir Putin announced Russia hadd unilaterally annexed four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson), Moscow has been seeking ways to legitimize the unrecognized annexation. The spreading of Russian passports is seen as an attempt to demonstrate that there is support among the Ukrainian population to be part of Russia.

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